Ultimate Dawn
by Sheity Williams
Summary: The galaxy has gone to hell and our last dawn approaches. There is no way out of an apocalypse. (Set in ME3. Short stories which may or may not be connected to each other. There may be appearances from ME characters in the future. Enjoy)
Front wind at one hundred forty kilometers per hour. Crosshairs up to compensate for the distance to target. Slight rotation of the scope to fix her line of fire. Finger close to the trigger but not quite ready to push. Thoughts went wild around her head. She hushed the voices, her thoughts, focusing on the sound of her breath. Closing her eyes, she breathed in and out, long, calm. It would further stabilize her aim. Her finger moved down, grasping the trigger with a soft touch. Target aligned. She blocked from her mind the whistling of the wind whirling outside the window in front of her. Until the sky broke down in pieces.

No noise could ever be compared to it. The thundering thousands of horns joined by the roaring of dozens of enraged panthers. Low pitched, as if it came from a faulty PA system with the most powerful bass ever created. No, not even close to it. Describing such a sound would do it no justice.

When the sky bloodied with the arrival of the unknown ships, Kylee glanced up, all but forgetting she had a target and a mission in the first place. Gigantic squid-like ships swarmed the area above, headed to various directions. The horizon was conquered by them. The sun was darkened by their presence. No matter where she looked, the ships had arrived there first. And if their sound were not too bad before, things were not going to improve any time soon.

The unknown ships started shooting, burning through any and all opposition below them with a red beam of energy. Who would have known light was going to be the source of such powerful doom and destruction? Everything went up in flames, disappeared among a pile of rubble or simply disintegrated into nothingness.

Kylee was not able to register the scene. Recognition never came. No species she knew about built ships of that fashion. No ship that big would risk entering the atmosphere at such speeds. Still, here they were, to prove her beliefs wrong. It made her realize how little she truly knew about the galaxy she had been born into. Years of experience were not always an advantage.

Her rifle was still pointing to her target, or at least, where he had been before his building exploded under the relentless fire of the hostile ships. She had no idea what was happening, why would they be invaded in the heart of human civilization, but if the adrenaline in her body was any indication, running like hell would prove to be the most logical conclusion.

Picking the rifle, her pack, and herself from the ground, she ran to the nearest staircase to exit the building. It shook once, twice, as small specks of dust rained from the ceiling. She had to hold on for dear life to prevent falling. Outside, the scene was beyond chaotic. People scattered into the streets. No one was prepared to have Earth invaded. No one knew where to go. Kylee saw a group of people stepping other others. She was unsure whether they were just corpses or men and women trapped forever under everyone's feet, in shock and unable to get up.

Before diving straight into the crazed, frenzied crowd, she told herself to gather her thoughts. It would do no good to follow along. Maybe they were just headed into the path of another beam, or the path of a crashing Alliance ship. In retrospect, though, there was no safe way, no chance to survive unscathed. Every step forward meant closing in into danger. Even standing still could end up taking your life.

Another beam landed close to her location, shaking the ground worse than an earthquake. An explosion followed, inside the building Kylee was about to exit. The shockwave sent her forward, into the chaotic mess of the half destroyed street. She was able to build a barrier around her, although she was never sure if it had been before or after her painful landing. The air was knocked out of her lungs as she hit the debris on the far side of the road. Her head hit something hard, too hard. Blood came from her wound, its smell mixing with the stench coming from her surroundings.

Kylee lay on the floor, unable to take her eyes away from the bodies. Burnt, dismembered, crushed. She was on their same level. Maybe she would join them soon.

The last thing she heard, apart from the invader ships, were sudden roars in the distance. Not from the scared or pained civilians. Kylee could only think they reminded her of zombies calling to their fellow comrades.

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 **Thanks for reading!**

 **You should know, I'm not very constant with uploading, so if more short stories are uploaded, they will be whenever I feel like writing one. Could be a month, could be a year. Also, this has gone through some editing, but not much. If you find stuff that doesn't make sense, that's okay, I am still a learning student of the writing craft (I should stop saying nonsense). I'm not good at writing, but I will be some day. Meanwhile, I practice with short stuff like this.**

 **Feel free to act as a beta reader and point out anything that should be improved. It'd be a lot of help!**

 **I hope you enjoy this small piece. More to come. In the distant future, most likely.**


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